ABSTRACT
Objective To define the correlation between the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and metastasis-related gene nm-23-H 1, and to correlate their espressions with clinical features,radiosensitivity and prognostic variables in exophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), to establish some biological parameters obtained prior to therapy though which we can predict radiosensitivity and outcome.Methods PCNA and nm-23-H 1 expression protein were determined by immunohistochemical technique with formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens from 59 patients with ESCC who had received definitive radical radiation and had been followed up for more than 3 years. The values were assessed by distributions of patients , disease factors, including age,sex,lesion site,legth ,histological grade and prognosis.Results The findings showed that the mean labelling indices of PCNA and nm-23-H 1 were significantly higher in ESCC than in the normal esophageal tissue (P0.05).Conclusions PCNA and nm-23-H 1 indices can be taken as biological endpoints to predicting therapeutic response, local and systemic control of disease.